Floating Image

Floating Image


CC BY 2.0 Jason Woodhead




Buffalo,
Iinnii, Tatanga, Tatanka, Paskwâwimostos, Xaniti,
Qwisp, Kamquq̓ukuǂ ʔiyamu, Iyanee’, heneeceeno’,ésevone,
Mushkode Bizhikim, Q’weyqway, Hii3einoon, boyzhan, ʔíítaanɔ́ɔ́nʔi,
Bison


‘Buffalo’ is a species of cultural significance and non-human relative to many Indigenous Nations. It is capitalized to represent its status and imporatance.

“We see Buffalo and many of our four-legged relatives as equals.” -Remington Bracher


I offer this positionality statement as a recognition of my lived experiences, responsibilities, background knowledge, and cultural grounding that shape my approach to this research. I am a Nêhiyaw (Cree) member of the Muskoday First Nation (MFN). On my mother’s side of the family comes from MFN through her late father, Lloyd Bear, and her late mother, Eileen Spence, from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (formerly known as Nelson House First Nation), while my father’s side comes from a mixed European heritage. I am also a land user who has spent the better part of the last 29 years hunting, fishing, and trapping all over western Canada. My upbringing was guided by my father’s passion for the outdoors, which instilled in me a profound respect for the land and water along with the fish and wildlife that call it home. My relationship with the natural world is not just an academic endeavour but a deeply personal and spiritual journey that has shaped my life and identity from a young age. I was raised in a household where hunting, fishing, and trapping were not only sustenance-based activities but also acts of cultural preservation. Through these experiences, I have seen Bison not only as an ecological and cultural keystone species but also as a relative whose presence is intertwined with Indigenous identities across Turtle Island. - Remington Bracher


Is it Buffalo or Bison?

Bison are commonly known as Buffalo. Bison and Buffalo are the same animal. The words are often used interchangeably. You can say Buffalo is the common name and Bison is the scientific name (Bison bison). Buffalo are the largest land mammal found in North America. There are two types of Buffalo in Canada, the Wood Buffalo and the Plains Buffalo.


Wood Buffalo vs Plains Buffalo

Currently, Wood Buffalo (Bison bison bison) is listed as Threatened and classified as ‘wildlife’ only in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories. Meanwhile, Plains Buffalo (Bison bison athabascae) is listed as ‘Special Concern’ and are not protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in Canada. They are only classified as ‘wildlife’ in British Columbia and Saskatchewan and as ‘livestock’ in Alberta and Manitoba.

The Wood Buffalo is larger compared to the Plains Buffalo.

Drawing of male Wood Buffalo (top) vs Plains Buffalo (bottom) COSEWIC 2014, p. 5, figure 1


Male Wood Buffalo (top) vs Plains Buffalo (bottom)
COSEWIC 2014, p. 6, figure 2
Female Wood Buffalo (top) vs Plains Buffalo (bottom) COSEWIC 2014, p. 7, figure 3



History

Bison used to roam North America in the tens of millions.

Pre-colonization distribution of Buffalo in North America COSEWIC 2014, p. 12, figure 4



Photographer unknown (1892). Pile of American Bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer. Wikimedia Commons


“Kill every buffalo you can! Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone.” -Lieutenant Colonel Dodge (Butler 1913)


“With my cavalry and carbined artillery encamped in the front, I wanted no other occupation in life than to ward off the savage and kill off his food until there should no longer be an Indian frontier in our beautiful country”
-Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield (Schofield 1897)



Reintroduction Program

The Plains Bison was completely lost in Canada until a herd (Elk Island herd) was brought from Montana. This was regarded as one of the biggest conservation initiative that Canada has ever done. It started from 34 individuals. The most recent one was the Banff National Park Bison Reintroduction Program. In 2017, 16 Plains Buffalo was brought to Banff National Park. As of 2024, there are over 130 individuals roaming the park. For information, check out the Parks Canada Bison blog.


Buffalo historical lineages (Stroupe et al. 2022)



Why Buffalo?

“…coming from a ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ (nêhiyaw, Cree) background, our species was Bison…There’s so many different meanings. Like for example many ceremonies, even my own wedding, I had a Buffalo skull present in every ceremony. In our culture, it’s regarded as like one of the greatest teachers, and like high of the highest renowned kind of spiritual beings. So you have that aspect of it that kind of plays into the culture for me also.” -Remington Bracher



Since time immemorial, Indigenous communities across North America have relied on wildlife to support their ways of life. Regionally abundant species that are fundamental to communities’ diets, materials, medicine, art, and spiritual practices have been referred to as Cultural Keystone Species (CKS) (Garibaldi & Turner, 2004).

The loss of Buffalo has impacted Indigenous food sovereignty and these communities’ cultural practices, language, and knowledge transmission (Lamb et al., 2023). As conservation values, ethics, and initiatives started to recognize the importance of Buffalo on the landscape, we also witnessed the significance of National Parks in the species conservation story.


About Us

ᑕᓂᓯ (tân’si”, hello), my name is Remington Bracher. I am currently a Master of Science student at the University of British Columbia at Okanagan campus, which is located on the unceded and ancestral land of the Syilx Okanagan First Nation in Dr. Adam Ford’s Wildlife Restoration Ecology (WiRE) Lab. My academic background includes a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Conservation Sciences from the University of Alberta and a technical diploma in Conservation Biology from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. In addition to formal education, my knowledge has been shaped by my experiences as a land user and the cultural teachings I received throughout my life. As an Indigenous researcher, I recognize that my research is not just a contribution to academia but also serves the needs and priorities of Indigenous communities working towards self-determination.

สวัสดีค่ะ (sawadee ka, hello), my name is Aimee Chhen. I am of Chinese descent and of Canadian and Thai Nationality. I am a Master of Science student in Dr. Michael Noonan’s Quantitative Ecology Lab at the University of British Columbia at Okanagan campus (UBCO) which is located on the unceded and ancestral land of the Syilx Okanagan First Nation. I have a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from UBCO and my research focus is in behavioural ecology. I am currently studying the behavioural response of mountain goats in Cathedral Provincial Park to wildfire during the Crater Creek wildfire in 2023. My contribution to Remington’s project has been creating and developing this website for his work from a science communication perspective with my fellow team member, Hunter, for our BIOL_O 430N course.

Hello, my name is Hunter. I am a undergraduate student. My contribution to Remington’s project has been creating and developing the social media content for his work from a science communication perspective with my fellow team member, Aimee, for our BIOL_O 430N course.


Acknowledgements

We want to thank Dr. Robin Young and the students of BIOL_O 430N Science Communication in Digital Media (2025) at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan for their valuable insight in communicating this work through digital media. Their feedback were instrumental in refining on how to present this works through digital platforms improved accessibility and engagement for a broad and diverse audiences.



Contact